Most lol line in "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?" poll

Richard or the F-bomb I CAN'T DECIDE!

*Backwards guitar solo* should also be an option

this song pwns

Awesome poll, went with the "butterfly decal" line because it tries so hard to be a snippet in the "Buzz Clip" commercials.

It would be cool if Jacknife Lee came up to REM in the studio and demanded they "bring the Monster back."

jesus what the hell was he talking about

Definitely the Richard line - almost ruined Slacker for me.

you know these are pretty cool lyrics, on the page

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Great song, good nonsensical lyrics. Doesn't matter what they mean, they just sound good within the song. I withdraw in disgust from this poll.

It's awesome that a song with these lyrics could become e.g. background music on Friends.

Are these lyrics really that confounding?

Or, indeed, "lol"?

Not lol, but for me a little confounding. Then again, I'm a bit thick sometimes...

Yeah, I find them a little hard to follow as well. Not a bad thing, as such!

Isnt the actual line somethign some reporter had said to him by a passing nutter on the street? The rest seems to be about Nixon and that era on TV.

It was said by a nutter who beat up Dan Rather.

Stipey sez:
"It remains the premier unsolved American surrealist act of the 20th century. It's a misunderstanding that was scarily random, media hyped and just plain bizarre."

Does "Richard" = Linklater or Nixon?

xpost

Linklater, it's a Slacker quote.

I bet the lollability people find in certain of these lines is directly proportional to the tanginess I find there.

"you wore our expectations like an armored suit", "you said that irony was the shackles of youth", for ex.

Yeah, I like how that second one sounds in the song. I voted for the "books, magazines" one because the sound of it sticks in my head.

You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh

not really lol, but I like it

haha guess it's "movies magazines"

I actually really love the "violent green" line, possibly the most. In my interpretation of the lyrics (to do with an older person struggling to get a grip on a younger generation, some media garble, and a dash of ole Kurdt), it's the most, I don't know, poignant.

I always thought it was:

You always shook, violently uh-huh

Game Theory actually used this imagery a few years earlier: Lolita Nation began with a sound snippet containing ominous music, footsteps and the phrase "Kenneth - what's the frequency?" I always wondered if that was REM's inspiration; certainly they were aware of each other.

Someone asked Peter Buck about Game Theory, he said "oh yeah great bunch etc". They then told him about their "Kenneth - what's the frequency?" track and he was all "YOU ARE KIDDING!!"

I almost voted for "violent green" but went with "armored suit." Either way, had to be one of the lines that ends with "uh-huh."

I went with "don't fuck with me" cuz its so daring

Voted for line 2, which is a perfect description of Michael Stipe's state while writing this lyric.

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Woo!

eww Linklater fanboys